"Is it hard to understand?" Yun Qian looked at him. "I thought you would understand."
"What?" Xu Chang’an thought long and hard, but still didn’t know Yun Qian’s reason for being more interested in this sword.
Yun Qian sat upright in front of Xu Chang’an, looked at the fine steel longsword on his lap, and calmly said, "After we left the island, you spent more ti sleeping with it than with ."
As if now, she just got up, and the spot on his lap was imdiately taken by the sword.
Xu Chang’an: "..."
He was directly stunned.
"Any more questions?" Yun Qian asked.
"No more." Xu Chang’an bent down and saluted the lady. "Leaving Miss alone in Beisang City was my fault, I’m sorry."
Seeing this, Yun Qian curled her lips slightly, returned the salute, then pointed at the longsword on Xu Chang’an’s leg and said, "Tell about the sword, I want to hear."
"Uh... let think." Stumped by Yun Qian, Xu Chang’an explained, "The parts of the sword include the blade, tip, edge, end, spine, cutting edge, guard, hilt, scabbard, and tassel."
He lightly tapped on the blade.
"Mm." Yun Qian nodded, listening very attentively.
Xu Chang’an had nothing to say.
When talking about zithers, he tried to be entertaining, but Yun Qian only wanted to sleep.
Talking about swords, he simply introduced, yet the lady listened intently.
"Sword techniques mainly involve slicing, chopping, crashing, pulling, blocking, shaking, intercepting, stabbing, stirring, pressing, hanging, and sweeping. It effortlessly balances strength and grace, known as ’Sword Like a Flying Phoenix,’ " Xu Chang’an recited, his tone flat.
"Sword Like a Flying Phoenix?" Yun Qian blinked, picturing a plump bird and not finding it particularly appealing.
"I haven’t finished yet." Xu Chang’an squinted his eyes. "I’ll describe another technique, Miss, guess what it is."
"It’s the zither."
"I haven’t said it yet."
"Weren’t you going to talk about the zither?"
Looking into Yun Qian’s clear eyes, Xu Chang’an thought to himself, is his mind really that obvious?
Xu Chang’an paused for a mont before saying, "The techniques of the Seven-Stringed Zither - flicking, plucking, brushing, picking, hooking, popping, striking, pulling, stabbing, pinching, rolling – bear a subtle similarity to swordplay techniques."
"Mn, it is indeed the zither." Yun Qian gave Xu Chang’an a look to continue.
"Forget it, I have nothing more to say." Xu Chang’an sighed. "Just make sure that when you leave the Flower Moon Building, you’re not influenced by the girls’ opinions of the seven strings."
"I don’t quite understand, but... just watch out for ," Yun Qian earnestly said.
"Miss, since you’re listening to so intently, I just feel more apologetic to you." Xu Chang’an felt increasingly like he was manipulating the lady.
"Apologetic to ?"
Yun Qian looked up at the sky, shaking her head. "Sleeping with the sword was before, now the ti I share a bed with you is longer."
"That’s not what I ant." Xu Chang’an lowered his head to look at the fine steel longsword.
He deliberately made Yun Qian interested in the zither, using the excuse of "for her own good" to arrange her future life... which was sothing he despised.
But he had no choice.
Because it truly was for her benefit, the Seven-Stringed Zither is the most suitable entry to cultivation for Yun Qian.
Fortunately, Miss Yun lacked autonomy, so his arrangent of her future cultivation didn’t generate strong guilt.
"Forget it, it’s rare for Miss to express a liking for sothing." Xu Chang’an stood up, holding the fine steel longsword.
A sword hum rang out.
Silver light grazed the lady’s face, dazzling her into closing her eyes.
Xu Chang’an drew the sword from its sheath.
"You’ve never seen wield a sword, have you?"
Since she was interested in swords, he’d perform so sword techniques to amuse her.
"I’ve seen it," Yun Qian revealed truthfully.
"In a dream?" Xu Chang’an wasn’t surprised.
"..." Yun Qian tilted her head and did not respond.
She wouldn’t admit to having secretly watched him at this point.
"Want to see it?" Xu Chang’an asked.
"I want to see it," Yun Qian nodded.
"Alright... but let say first." Xu Chang’an twirled the sword flower, feeling slightly unsure. "What I learned from the teacher is mainly the practical swordsmanship of sword qi storage... sword dance, I’ve seen the senior sisters play a few tis, but I’m not too skilled."
Yun Qian expressed understanding, her moist eyes wide open, no longer showing any sign of drowsiness.
Her husband’s sword dance.
This must be noted carefully; not a single detail should be missed.
"Zheng——"
Xu Chang’an flicked his finger on the blade, emitting a sound reminiscent of zither music that resonated through the courtyard, with a faint mist spreading.
Wen Li said the longsword matters in spirit, not form, but Xu Chang’an’s realm was insufficient, unable to escape the deadly moves taught by Li Zhibai, so each move was steady.
What he perford wasn’t much of a sword dance compared to daily sword practice.
"..."
The white ribbon behind Yun Qian’s head gently fluttered with the breeze stirred by the longsword.
This sword dance was a bit awkward, yet she liked watching it.
There seed to be sothing missing.
Missing what.
Yun Qian narrowed her eyes slightly, thought for a while, then understood.
It was missing the sound of the zither.
Yun Qian realized that if she had learned the zither by now and played along to his performance, it would be delightful.
So this is what he ant by Sword Heart and Zither Heart.
Yun Qian thought her husband kept extolling the benefits of the zither to her, but she simply disregarded it.
Now, she seed to have realized the value of the Seven-Stringed Zither herself.
She glanced at the spot where Xu Chang’an kept his guqin, turned back, and t his amused gaze, realizing sothing.
Turns out it was part of his plan.
——
A set of sword techniques was swift when perford, and once Xu Chang’an finished, the sword qi slowly dissipated, revealing an expression of pride.
Before performing the sword dance, he deliberately struck the ringing note to remind Yun Qian of the seven strings, the effect... naturally, was excellent.
But Xu Chang’an didn’t boast after gaining the upper hand.
Since he said he would make ands to the lady by performing the sword dance, he would not ntion the zither again.
"What does Miss think of my sword?"
"The sword? I don’t understand swords." Yun Qian shook her head.
"It’s exactly because you don’t understand swords that I’m asking." Xu Chang’an smiled.
If she understood, he’d just be embarrassing himself.
"I like it very much," Yun Qian said, "But it’s not very attractive."
"Indeed, that’s it." Xu Chang’an received a perfect response.
That’s precisely what he wanted.
He still rembered the lady saying he spent more ti sleeping with the sword than with her... at least let her know, the sword isn’t appealing, she is more appealing.
"After all, the sword is still a weapon. Unless specifically crafted for dancing, it is rather unattractive," Xu Chang’an said.
Yun Qian seed thoughtful.
She knew a little about weapons, mainly that they could make an attack more effective and varied, essentially for battle and slaughter, determining victories and life or death.
Or perhaps worn to signify status.
None of these ant anything to Yun Qian.
But whether or not it’s attractive is not important; what matters is whether she likes it.
Her husband’s sword, she likes it.
"So, if Miss is interested, you can learn sword dances that don’t involve dueling, they are safe and visually appealing." Xu Chang’an wisely split the sword concept for Yun Qian into "combat use" and "performance use."
This didn’t suppress Yun Qian’s interest in the sword but eliminated the possibility of her learning the Slaughter Sword.
Yun Qian might not fully understand, but she just needed to listen.
Xu Chang’an gave himself a way out.
He also wondered what kind of sight Yun Qian, such a graceful lady, would be like if she perford a sword dance—likely to shatter his composure instantly.
Hmm.
Xu Chang’an placed the longsword along with its scabbard in front of Yun Qian.
"Do you want to try sword dancing? I can teach you a short sword flower."
He finished performing; it was ti for the lady to reward him.
It’s about reciprocity, after all.
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